After painting for a few years and garnering some chops, i notice that while my voice is ever present in my work(s) different paper have their own inherent properties. The characteristics each paper brings to a piece is akin to a spice intentionally added to a dish for a desired effect.
Here are two pieces I did in same week:
“Hey” 5.5×8.5 Watercolor & Paper
“Soak” 9×12 Watercolor & mutli media paper
I like my pieces to exude the feeling that one is a voyeur into a scene. I try to not rigidly state what the viewer is seeing. Pleasure, pain, either or so long as emotion is present.
7×10 Watercolor & French Cotton Paper
I have been experimenting with executing larger pieces. For painting I had no idea if my technique would work. Also, I had never painted watercolors on easel. I decided to have a go at it. With zero pressure of a deadline or patron expectations, the freedom to experiment was an invaluable currency. What I discovered is that I can still utilize my technique but with the paper on easel had to work much slower than is my norm.
So here is my first go (ever) at this type of thing (both paper type and size). I was very pleased with it. In the end, I did not find it a lesser or transitional work. I will definitely do more large pieces, although with different type of paper.
“Hair Fin” Watercolor & Paper 22×30
I have an ongoing informal series called “A Valentine of Sorts”. The things in it I do not seek out but paint when they organic have popped up in my life and have the color palette I have used in the series. In general, I never beforehand think about subject matter nor color scheme but always do what appeals to me as I bump into it.
The whole series is 5.5×8.5 Watercolor & Paper
Traditional beauty bores me. It becomes a generic, fleeting pleasure. With painting it also easily lends itself to being overly academic, lean against the railing baby, tilt your head. I mainly use people I know, I let their naturally occurring body language and emotions present themselves. The true will always be beautiful because it is real.
9×12 Watercolor & Multi Media Paper
This painting can be viewed as either the start of finish of my Trudy series. All the pieces can be viewed in any order, with each order seeming to present a different narrative.
Watercolor and paper 5.5×8.5
Between all my recent travel and getting ready to go on the road, I realized that I had not done a piece on my French Cotton paper in a while.
“As a child I spent my entire summers barefoot, right up until the day before school started. I think that’s why as an adult I like beaches so much, they are very different in Europe. ”
French cotton paper & Watercolors 7×10
There is a pleasure to exploring when on the road. A different but equally satisfying thing is to have places all over the world where one is known, a regular. This is a self portrait of me at one of my favorite places while on the road.
Watercolor & Multi Media Paper 9×12
On the road. This paper was just laying around. Although it was generally being put to use as scrap paper, it is landscape style. It was nothing fancy nor great but I decided to improvise part of my trip diary on it. It is not whether something is frame worthy or selleble but the process itself which brings me joy and is the personal payoff for me. I was pleased with the results.
First painting from on the road. I am very pleased with this, even more so as I had far from ideal lightening and worked on a counter.
Tani 5.5×8.5 watercolor and paper
Paper Life Painting 